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Wednesday, April 25, 2007
Big question from Tuesday: Goodman
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Danny Hall looked disgusted. Jeff Ussery looked surprised. And Georgia Tech’s baseball team looked forward to the next time it plays Georgia, when it hopes the result is different than it was Tuesday night at Turner field.
When I spoke with Hall after the 10-7 loss his focus was where I expected it to be, on the pitching in the first two innings. John Goodman walked the first three batters, all of whom scored, and two doubles and a couple of wild pitches brought Georgia two more runs in the second, one off Goodman and one off Tim Ladd.
“When you spot somebody three runs and then two more to make it 5-0, it’s hard to beat anybody,” Hall said.
Tech tied a school record with three triples, two by Ussery, a freshman infielder who had nothing more powerful than his five doubles before Tuesday night. His performance might have been expected on a night when a 14-26 team beat a 26-14 team.
“Baseball’s a funny game,” Ussery said. “They played well. Hopefully [May 9 at Athens], it will be a good game again.”
The bigger question for Tech is when Goodman will be Goodman again. He was an ACC starter in March before shoulder tendinitis sidelined him for three weeks. Tuesday was his first game back since allowing five run in 4 2/3 innings March 31 against Maryland. Goodman missed all of 2005 with an elbow surgery and was hurt in 2006, too. When he’s on, as he was against Boston College and Duke this season, he can be one of the league’s top pitchers. Even a team with Tech’s substantial pitching strength can use a guy like that.
